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Alberta

Province pumps healthcare system – $100M boost for surgical suites, equipment, rural hospitals

Published

5 years ago

4 minute read

From the Province of Alberta

A $100-million government investment will help hospitals across the province upgrade their operating rooms to provide thousands more surgeries to Albertans.

Large-scale renovations and some new operating rooms in Edmonton, Calgary, Grande Prairie and Lethbridge will allow those hospitals to focus on providing more complex surgeries, leaving rural sites and chartered surgical facilities to provide additional lower risk surgeries.

“Albertans deserve a world-class health system that delivers the right care, in the right setting, at the right time. This funding from Budget 2020 will drive down wait times with necessary and overdue upgrades to hospital operating rooms and equipment across the province. Ultimately, we will make sure our health-care system has the capacity and the staff to deliver the best access to surgery in Canada.”

Jason Kenney, Premier

“This is great news for Albertans who need surgeries and want more access to quality health care in their home communities. This $100 million for capital projects will have a cascading effect, improving access to surgeries in big city hospitals, but also in rural communities across the province, so people can get care closer to home. It’s just the start of our government’s commitment to ensure the success of the Alberta Surgical Initiative. We are working exceptionally hard to ensure we build the best health system possible in this wonderful province.”

Tyler Shandro, Minister of Health

This capital funding is part of the government’s $500-million commitment in Budget 2020 to drive down wait times and provide all medically necessary surgeries within clinically appropriate times. Savings found through the AHS Reviewwill support this initiative.

The $100 million in capital funding will be spent on surgical infrastructure and equipment, including:

  • Upgrades to 12 operating rooms at Calgary’s Foothills Medical Centre. Low-risk surgeries will be moved out of the Foothills hospital and offered in Canmore, High River and independent surgical facilities in Calgary, relieving pressures on city hospitals with long wait lists.
  • A fit-out of an operating room in Grande Prairie and converting space in the Edson Health Centre into a second operating room.
  • Renovations at the Rocky Mountain House Health Centre so it can perform more endoscopy procedures and create more space in the Red Deer hospital to focus on more complex surgeries. Low-risk surgeries will also be moved out of the Red Deer Hospital to be offered in Innisfail, Stettler, Ponoka and Olds.
  • Renovations to operating departments at the Royal Alexandra Hospital and the University of Alberta Hospital, including the addition of one new operating room. Lower risk procedures will be moved to the Fort Saskatchewan Health Centre, the Grey Nuns Community Hospital and the Sturgeon Community Hospital in St. Albert.
  • Renovations at the Medicine Hat Regional Hospital.
  • Combining two smaller operating rooms into one larger space for more complex surgeries at Lethbridge’s Chinook Regional Hospital.

This capital investment will help AHS add over 17,000 surgeries this fiscal year to meet the four-year target that was set. Once the renovations are complete and less complex surgeries are being performed in chartered surgical facilities, up to 30,000 additional surgeries will be available to Albertans by 2023.

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After 15 years as a TV reporter with Global and CBC and as news director of RDTV in Red Deer, Duane set out on his own 2008 as a visual storyteller. During this period, he became fascinated with a burgeoning online world and how it could better serve local communities. This fascination led to Todayville, launched in 2016.

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Alberta

Putting an end to the photo radar cash cow

Published on December 2, 2024

By

Alberta’s government is ending the photo radar cash cow, eliminating areas where photo radar is used to generate revenue with no traffic safety benefit.

Many Albertans have expressed growing frustration with photo radar, questioning its focus on revenue rather than safety. In response to these concerns, Alberta’s government paused the introduction of new photo radar equipment and locations on Dec. 1, 2019. Now, after thorough analysis and consultation, Alberta’s government is taking bold steps to restore public trust.

Effective April 1, 2025, ticketing on numbered provincial highways will end as photo radar will be restricted to school, playground and construction zones. Intersection safety devices in Alberta will also be restricted to red light enforcement only, ending the ‘speed-on-green’ ticketing function.

Municipalities will also be able to request that the province approve additional photo radar locations on an exceptional basis, for high collision areas and where other safety measures cannot be implemented effectively. These types of exceptions will be subject to an audit every two years to assess the effectiveness of photo radar at the site in reducing collisions.

“This is great news for Alberta drivers. These changes will once and for all kill the photo radar cash cow in Alberta. Albertans can be confident that photo radar will only be used to improve traffic and roadside worker safety and not to make money.”

Devin Dreeshen, Minister of Transportation and Economic Corridors

The next step for government is to review every existing photo radar site in the province over the next four months. As part of that review, those that are deemed ineffective, or outside of a school, playground, or construction zone, will be removed. This is expected to reduce the current 2,200 approved sites by 70 per cent, which would also better align the amount of photo radar with other provinces. Currently, there are about 70 per cent more photo radar sites used in 24 Alberta municipalities than the next highest province. Allowing these changes to be implemented over the next four months provides municipalities time to transition, update equipment and adjust contracts with vendors.

“I’m happy to see the province focusing photo radar on playground and construction zones. We need to prioritize safety where it matters most – protecting our children and workers on Calgary’s roads. I’m proud to support this vital step toward safer communities.”

Dan McLean, councillor, Ward 13, City of Calgary

“It is vital we maintain safety where it matters most—around our schools, playgrounds and construction zones. These are areas where enforcement can genuinely protect lives, not just generate revenue. With this new policy change, we’ll see more officers back in neighbourhoods and that visibility will help tackle the growing issues of crime and disorder – a top priority for Edmontonians and Albertans.”

Tim Cartmell, councillor, Ward pihêsiwin, City of Edmonton

“The Minister’s announcement will ensure that the use of photo radar is focused on enhancing traffic safety on high-risk roadways. RMA looks forward to learning how current photo radar sites will be assessed and is optimistic that this will result in an approach that supports safer roads without unfairly penalizing drivers.”

Kara Westerlund, president, Rural Municipalities of Alberta

Municipalities will be encouraged to use traffic-calming measures to improve traffic safety, including speed warning signs, speed tables (large flat speed bump), public education campaigns and other tools designed to improve traffic safety. The province will also help make roads safer by providing municipalities with support to reengineer roads and intersections that have been proven to be unsafe.

Quick facts

  • Alberta first introduced photo radar in 1987.
  • All photo radar sites were removed from ring roads in Calgary and Edmonton on December 1, 2023.
  • The government engaged with municipalities in June and August 2024 about photo radar and specifically to discuss solutions to eliminate ‘fishing holes.’
  • The top five revenue-generating sites from last year are:
    • Strathcona County – Baseline Road/17 St., 52,558 tickets (144/day) $5,956,573 in fines
    • Edmonton – Gateway Blvd./34 Ave., 23,977 tickets (144/day) $2,717,393 in fines
    • Edmonton – 170 St./118 Ave., 20,241 tickets (55/day) $2,293,980 in fines
    • Calgary – Beddington Tr./Country Hills Blvd., 19,337 tickets (53/day) $2,173,167 in fines
    • Edmonton – 127 St./126 Ave., 18,705 tickets (51/day), $2,119,900 in fines

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Alberta

Alberta minister blasts province’s NDP leader for seeming to mock Christians

Published on November 30, 2024

By

From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

Imagine if it was a conservative minister making fun of Mohammed on an important religious feast day

The leader of Alberta’s socialist New Democratic Party (NDP) has been taken to task by the ruling United Conservative Party for appearing to mock Christians in a moment caught by a hot mic at a press conference in the province’s legislature.  

On Wednesday, NDP leader and former mayor of Calgary, Naheed Nenshi, who does not hold a seat in the legislature despite being leader of the opposition, drew the ire of UCP Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Dan Williams for appearing to mock Jesus Christ. 

“Yesterday, right here in the legislature, Naheed Nenshi, the leader of the NDP, mocked Christians along with the media. They laughed at us,” said Williams in an X post video Thursday. 

 

In the video, Williams shows a clip of Nenshi walking away after Wednesday’s press conference saying, “I wanted to say the UCP hates baby Jesus.” Immediately afterward, members of the media burst into laughter.

It is not clear what Nenshi was asked by the legacy media, or why he made the response he did, but it was perceived by Williams and others to be a mockery of Christians who support the UCP.

Williams took issue with Nenshi’s comments, saying that what he said was “deeply inappropriate anywhere, especially here in our legislature, and it’s so deeply inappropriate for anyone to say, especially someone who believes that they should be the leader of our province.” 

Not done yet, Williams accused Nenshi of making “fun of the majority of faith holders in this province.” 

“To do it here, of all places, in the Rotunda. Friends imagine if the roles were switched. Imagine if it was a conservative minister making fun of Mohammed on an important religious feast day,” he said. 

“He might not have intended it, but it is offensive and I hope Mr. Nenshi rises to the occasion and apologizes because I don’t think Christians want to stand for being made fun of by Mr. Nenshi or by anyone, and not in the house and seat of our democracy here in the legislature,” he said.  

Nenshi is no stranger to advocating for the woke agenda that often stands in opposition to Christian values.

In 2021, Nenshi called COVID protesters, many of whom were Christians, “white supremacists,” and said last year that Canadian politicians should use their positions in parliament to combat the “radicalization of white people.”

It was also during Nenshi’s time as mayor of Calgary that the city’s council banned businesses from offering help to those with unwanted same-sex attraction, meaning that even if someone who suffered from such attraction wanted help in dealing with those feelings, offering such help was not permitted. 

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